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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sh,eet 2;

E. WHITING' 82; J. N. SMITQ GAR TRUCK.

, g No. 274,160. Patented Mar.20, 1883.

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NITED STATES ATEN'I FFICE.

ELEANOR WHITING AND JOSEPH NOTTINGHAM SMITH, OF BROOKLYN, N. Y SAID SMITH ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPHINE MARY SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 274,160, dated March 20, 1883. Application filed November 23,1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ELEANOR WHI'IING and JOSEPH NOTTINGHAM SMITH, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, havejointly invented certain Improvements in Trucks for Cars, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to atruck for railwaycars constructed in the main of the piece of metal, either cast or wrought, and provided with means'for braking, in order to check and stop the car. The entire truck-frame is, by preference, made from one casting of steel or annealed iron; but it might be made up from plates of sheet steel or iron, the pedestals for the axleboxes andthe housings for the springs being formed in one piece with the'truck-frame.

' In order thatthe construction of our truck and its braking appliances may be better understood, we will describe it with reference to i the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan of the truck; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Fig. 3, an end View, partly in section on line 3 3 in Fig. 1. Fig.4 is a front view of the braking mechanism detached. Fig. 5isaviewshowing the brake-staff and its shoe detached. Fig. 6 is a view designed to illustrate the construction of the seat and cap for the springs, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged view illustrating the construction of the brake-shoe.

Arepresents in general a truck frame, made preferably of cast-steel and in one piece. This framecomprises a contracted central portion, a c, which we will call the waist, and two elevated platforms, b and b, which rise above the car-wheels and form supports upon which the car-body rests. v y

The car-body is indicated in Fig. 2, and is designated by the letter B. The waist comprises the roof portion a, which extends entirely-across from side to side, and rises at the end to house the wheels of the car and the pendent side portions, a, which curve inward at the center and join the portion a at a right angle. In the pendent portions a, where they extend under the ends of the platforms 1) and b, are formed the pedestals to receive the saddles of the axle-boxes and the housings for the springs c c.

The springs, which we prefer to arrange in pairs, rest in seat d (1, (shown in plan in Fig.

6,) which seats have each a tenon or rib, e, that fits into a socket in the saddle f, where it is secured by pins, rivets, or otherwise. The upper ends of the springs are provided with a cap, g, which may be constructed precisely like the seat d, except that the tenon e is omitted. The saddle fengages and plays in jaws or keepers h, which form a part of the truckframe, and are braced and stayed by webs or flanges, as shown. The metal of the cast frame descends behind the springs to form a back wall for the housing, in which the said springs rest.

The upper surfaces of the platforms 1) and b of the frame are level or plane, and, as before stated, the car-body rests on these. In the drawings, b presents that end of the truck which is nearest the end of the car, and b the end nearest the center of the car. The carbody is pivoted to the truck-frame at -i, directly over the center of the axle nearest the end of the car. This is the arrangementadapt ed for both trucks; but onlyonetrnckis shown. In turning curves the other end of the truck swings under the car, and to limit this swing a pin, j, (see Fig. 1,) in the oar-body is ar ranged to play in a curved slot, la, in the platform b of the truck. We prefer to provide the truck-frame with a curved slot and pivoting socket or hole at each end, as shown in Fig. 1, so that in building the truck it will be immaterial which end is placed next the end of the car; but this is not a matter of importance. The truck-frame may or may not be so provided.

In order to brace the pendent sidesa of the truck-frame, ribs 1 may be cast on it, extending across from side to side, and in addition to these, or in lieu of same, stay rods or bolts m may also be employed for stiffening the frame.

Extending lengthwise through the axis of thetruck is a beam, 0, of wood by preference, which is secured to the metal frame, where it passes through the same, by means of bolts 12, as shown. formed on the metal to embrace said beam. In addition to this, we provide the beam with a stirrup-brace, 0, at the end of the truck nearest the end of the car. A similar brace may also, if desired, be placed at the opposite end of the truck. The beam (J projects, as

To provide for these aflange is lOO . necessity of renewing the staffs.

shown, to provide a means for coupling the cars together from the truck. We prefer to employ for this purpose that form of coupler known as the Miller coupler, but as this is a well-known device we have not deemed it necessary to show it in the drawings. It is only necessary to say that the hook-bar of the coupler will lie and be pivoted'to the beam 0, and will play between the cheeks of. the stirrup 10, Fig. 2, which depends from the carbody.

YVe will now describe the braking mechanism, which is connected .to and practically forms a part of the truck.

In the sides a of the truck-frame, at or near the middle point of the'waist, are arranged sockets q q, to receive brake-staffs r r, which are adapted to fit into and slide vertically in said sockets, which are arranged directly over the rails of the track. 0n the ends of these staffs are secured suitable brake-shoes, 8. These may be renewed, when worn out, without the The side plates of the truck, in which are arranged the sockets q, extend down quite close to the track, and the shoes .9, which are no larger than the staffs, draw up into these sockets. Thus the strain in braking does not tend to break off the shoe from the staff, as in brakes of this character formerly proposed, wherein the shoe was large and always remained out of and below the socket. brake-shoe is never the socket q.

. In braking the car the brake-shoes are pressed down upon the track-rail by mechanism that will no-w'be described.

At its upper end, and on the inside of the brake-staff, the latter is provided with an inclined or beveled abutment or shoulder, 25, and above this shoulder is another shoulder, 13, which may be a stout friction-roller. D is what we deuominate a wedge, which is provided with a central bearing socket or portion, D, which slides on a saddle-plate, E, on the beam 0. and two beveled or inclined wings, 1) D the ends of which engage between the shoulders t t on the brake=staifs r. The central part, I), of the wedge D, where it is mounted on the beam, is best shown in Fig. 4, where it will be seen that the lateral projections on the saddle-plate E take into keepers in the part Dof the wedgein sucha manner as to permit the latter to slide alongside lengthwise of the beam, but not to move up or down in a vertical plane. The effect of this construction is that when the wedge is moved back and forth on the saddle-plate E the brakestaffs are moved up and down by reason of the engagement of the wings of the wedge I) with'the said brake-staffs, as will be readily understood.

To retract the wedge D and lift the brakestaffs, we employa retracting-spring, F, strong protruded entirely from enough to accomplish the desired result, and attached at one end to the wedge and at the other to the truck-frame, as shown. To force In our construction the the brake-shoes down upon the track-rail, in order to create suificient friction to checkand stop the train, we employ an ordinary brakechain,.G, attached at one end to the wedge and at the other end to the ordinary handbrake rod on the car, or to any other known mechanism for applying the brakes-that is to say, any known appliances for drawing the wedge forward may be employed, to be operated by steam, byhand, or by compressed air. This means forms no vention. Y

It will be seen that the pressure downward upon the track-rails by the brake-shoes tends to lift up the'truck, and that the truck-springs are interposed between the truck and the carbody. Consequently the said springs serve as elastic cushions for the brakes, whereby rigid contact with the rail is avoided.

In Figs. 2 and 3 we have shown the trucksprings compressed as far as it is possible for the heaviest load to compress them. Thus the brake-shoes are shown at their lowestpoint whenintheirelevatednormalcondition. When the load is light and the truck-frame lifted, the brake shoes will stand normally at a greater elevation above the track-rail. In constructing the wedge D we provide for all of the vertical movement that may possibly be required in the operation of the brake staffs and shoes.

In order to check the upward lift of the car on its springs, we provide blocks a c, preferably of vulcanized rubber, arranged in the spring-housing (see Fig. 2) at the sides of the saddlef and under the projecting ends of the seat dot the springs. loaded, should be lifted too high by the reaction of the springs, these blocks will take under the ends of the seat d and check the upward movement. These blocks may be replaced by springs of steel or other material.

Where the bottom of the car-body rests upon the platforms b1) of the track, a plate of metal may be interposed to take the wear and reduce the friction. The open end ofthespringhousing over the pedestal may be covered by an ornamental plate, 10, as shown at the right in Fig. 2.

In order to better illustrate theconstruction of the spring-housing and pedestal, we have shown one corner of the truck-frame in horizontal section in Fig. 1, the sectional plan be ing indicated by the line 1 l in Fig. 3. At the left in Fig. 2 the jaws of the pedestal are also shownbroken away for the same purpose.

Guide-pulleys, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, may be provided for the purpose of deflecting the brake-chain G. The shoulders or abutments tt on the brake-staff might both be rollers, or both be fixed parts, and the shoe 8 might be formed in one with the brake-staff.

In order to avoid smoothing or polishing the central part or crown of the track-rail, which would be apt to cause the locomotive drivers to slip, we construct the brake-shoe as best illustrated in the enlarged sectional view,

part of our present in- IOC If the car, when lightly Fig. 7. It is the crown or central portion of the top of the rail thatisimpinged upon by the driver. Therefore,to avoid smoothing or polishing this surface by the abrading or rubbing action of the brake-shoe, we recess the lower face of the letter at as in Fig. 7,so that only the cheeks of the said shoe rest upon the rail. We also shape the lower faces of these parts, where necessary, to fit onto the inclined parts of the rail-face or top, as shown. Our object, it will be seen, is to avoid touching with the 'brak'e-shoe that part of the rail-crown upon which the driver relies for its tractive force.

To more fully illustrate the application of our truck-frame in practice, we have shown it provided with axle-boxes and wheels. H represents the axle-boxes, and I I the wheels.

Trucks are universally pivoted to the carhody at some point in their longitudinal axis, usually at a point mid way between the axles; but in some cases at the extreme end near the coupling-point of the cars. ,In our truck the pivot-point is arranged .over the middleof the axle nearest the end of the car, as before stated. Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. A truck-frame constructed of thin metal,

comprising the contracted waist, consisting of the roof portion a and sides a and the elevated, platforms b and b, the said frame having the spring-housings and the pedestals formed in it, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the thin-metal frame A,formed, as shown, in substantially one piece, and the axial beam 0, extending through and secured to said frame, substantiallyas set forth. 3. The combination, with ametaltruck-frame provided with sockets arranged to receive the brake-staffs, the said brake-stafis provided with shoes .9, arranged to draw up into the sockets, the double wedge D, mounted to slide on the axial beam of the truck, the retractingspring, and the chain G, all combined and arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

4. A truck-frame, A, cast from steel in one 5 piece, and comprising the roof portion a, depressed at the middle and arched up over the wheels, the elevated platforms 1) and b for the car-body to rest upon, the sides a drawn in at provided with sockets for the brake-staffs, of

the said brake-stati's, provided with shoulders 25 t, the wedge D, provided with a central part, D, to take over and ride on the saddle-plate E and inclined wings D the said saddle-plate, the beam 0, and the retracting-spring, all arranged to Operate substantially as set forth.

6. The shoe of the brake, provided with a central recess, 00, in the face that rests on the track, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

7. The combination, with the springs and their housing, of the spring-seat d, secured to the saddle f, and the said saddle, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with the truckframe, provided with a housing for the springs, of the said springs, the cap g, seat at, and saddle f, all constructed and arranged substantially as set forth. i i

9. The combination, with the truck-frame, provided with a housing for the springs, of the said springs, the seat d, and the cushion-block v, all arranged substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELEANOR WHI'IING. JOSEPH NOTTINGHAM SMITH.

Witnesses:

HENRY UONNETT, ARTHUR. C. FRASER. 

